Oolong refers to a category of semi-oxidized teas that can only be made from certain types of tea bush varietals growing in specific geographical regions. The production methods of oolong tea are only known to a few of the tea cultivation regions in the world...

The oolong tea process was developed in the Fujian Province of southeastern China, within the Wuyi Mountains. It was originally called Qing Cha (bluegreen tea) and later was dubbed Oolong Cha ("black dragon tea," also spelled Wulong Cha) by the 18th Century Qing Dynasty Emperor, Qianlong. Since then the world of oolong tea has expanded but the main production zones of oolong today consist of Fujian, Guangdong, and Taiwan.

The intention of the oolong maker is to partially oxidize the leaf, utilizing special withering, bruising, rolling, oxidation and repeated roasting techniques to fix the aroma and color of oolong.

The result is a tea that on the scale of leaf oxidation and infusion color is somewhere between green and black tea. Depending on the duration of oxidation, season, regional style, tea bush varietal and roast degree, the resulting infusion colors of oolong teas range from lightly oxidized bright green or golden, to more heavily oxidized hues of amber-orange, to reddish and heavily roasted dark coffee-brown.

Oolong tea production is the most skilled labor intensive, artisanal and sophisticated manner of tea making. Oolong tea artisans are much like boutique wine makers. Most oolong teas are sold under simple trade names (e.g., Tie Guanyin, Shui Xian, Dong Ding, Dancong) but experts categorize and understand oolong by its region, vintage, bush varietal and season of harvest, just like wine. Taking all of these factors into consideration, we can say there are hundreds of types of oolong.